Cruise ship brings 400 tourists to Ha Long Bay

Officials of the Quang Ninh Tourism Department present flowers to welcome the tourists boarding Dream Cruise on January 26. (Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper)

Quang Ninh (VNA) – Cruise ship Dream Cruise with about 400 tourists on board, mostly from China, docked at Ha Long International Port in the northern province of Quang Ninh on January 26.

This is the first time the cruise liner has returned to Ha Long since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Sanya (China) - Ha Long (Vietnam) route.

During their stay, the tourists will visit Ha Long Bay, go on city tours to explore local culture and cuisine as well as tour some neighbouring localities.

From now until March, Dream Cruise is scheduled to have at least one trip to Ha Long every week, depending on the number of bookings.

Sixty international cruise ships with a total of some 80,000 passengers aboard have registered to dock at Ha Long International Port this year. These ships belong to renowned firms such as Mein Schiff 6 & 5, Celebrity Solstice, Noordam, MSC Spendida, and Westerdam, according to the provincial Department of Tourism.

Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Tourism Nguyen Huyen Anh said as one of the localities with the most modern international seaports in the country, Quang Ninh focuses on attracting international cruise tourists to the province.

The department has coordinated with other departments and agencies to facilitate immigration procedures and offer the best services to foreign visitors, she added.

The province is striving to attract 17-20 million visitors this year, including 3 million foreign visitors, with revenue from tourism reaching 39.1 trillion VND (1.58 billion USD). It aims to welcome about 25 million tourists by 2030, of which 8 million are foreign arrivals and the number of visitors will grow at 6% a year on average./.